As Above, So Below (2014)
As Above, So Below is a 2014 American horror film directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by Dowdle and his brother Drew. The film stars Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, and Ali Marhyar. Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks), a young alchemy scholar, continues her dead father's (Roger Van Hool) work searching for the philosopher's stone, a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals such as lead into gold or silver and grant eternal life, discovered by Nicholas Flamel. After finding the Rose Key in a cave in Iran, she travels to Paris. She then enlists the help of George (Ben Feldman), her former lover whom she abandoned in Turkey while in pursuit of the stone. Along with Benji (Edwin Hodge) the cameraman, they translate Flamel's headstone, which contains a riddle that leads them to a point underneath the streets of Paris. She then enlists the help of a guide called Papillon (François Civil), his girlfriend Souxie (Marion Lambert), and friend Zed (Ali Marhyar) to search the Catacombs beneath Paris, France. George explicitly refuses to go, but is driven into the caves with the group when they are spotted by a policeman. After crawling through a narrow tunnel which collapses, they find themselves before a door that Papillion is reluctant to breach, as the only people who have gone through, including Pap's friend the Mole (Cosme Castro), have never been seen again. Early on in the venture, they encounter some female Cultists who are singing and have possessed appearances. After proceeding deeper into the catacombs, they encounter the Mole, who agrees to guide them out, and informs them that the way out is down. They eventually find a tomb with a preserved Templar Knight, a mound of treasure, and the Flamel Stone. Removing the stone, Scarlett realizes too late that the treasure is a trap, and the room collapses. The Mole is lost under the rubble and is abandoned by the group. With the Flamel Stone, Scarlett heals the group's injuries. They find a drawing of a door on the ceiling along with a Gnostic Star of David, symbolizing "As above, so below," meaning there is a door hidden in the floor. Going through the opening, they find a tunnel marked with the phrase "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" in Greek, identical to the entrance to Hell. Passing through, they find a dark reflection of the room they just left, including the Mole, who attacks and kills Souxie. They realize they must continue and go deeper. Along the way, Benji the cameraman is pushed to his death down a hole by the lead female cultist (Olivia Csiky Trnka), who caught his eye in Paris as well as while singing in the upper levels of the catacombs. Later they encounter a burning car and occupant (who is the same young man who told Scarlett to find Papillon as a guide), an incident from Pap's past who pulls in Papillon and then sinks into the floor. They attempt to pull Pap out of the ground, but to no avail. As they continue, they see apparitions of terrifying spirits and demons. Statues in the wall come to life and one attacks George, biting open his throat. After trying to drag him further, George murmurs "Vitriol," another riddle from earlier, and Scarlett realizes the Flamel stone itself is yet another trap, and that only by returning it will she find the real stone. She races back to the crypt returns the stone and looks into a polished mirror on the wall where the stone was hidden, realizing that her quest for the stone and belief in the philosophy "As above, so below," (explained as simply willing acts of magic to happen makes it so) has granted her the magical abilities of the stone. She returns to George, kissing him as she holds his wounds, healing them. She then explains that where they are is about confronting their regrets, such as George's brother who drowned after he got lost looking for help and her father who committed suicide, as he had called her that night but she refused to pick up the phone. She says they must accept their guilt in order to absolve themselves and escape. Zed confesses he has a son who he never took responsibility for and denied as his own, explaining the visions of a little boy running around that have plagued him during their journey. With the hooded demons closing in, the three accept what they have done before a hole they have discovered. Together they jump down, even though they know there is no logical way for them to survive. As they land at the bottom, they look up, see the hole they came down is no longer there. They find a manhole, pushing it down, they pull themselves out onto the streets of a city and to safety. Category:Movies